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One more of the Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio, Board of Elections directors, Republican Sally Florkiewicz, has stepped down this afternoon. Her resignation leaves just one member, the board's chairman, Bob Bennett, left to fight the demand by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner that all board members resign in the wake of a years-long string of elections disasters, two criminal convictions related to the recount of the 2004 Presidential Election, and a new criminal investigation which was launched last week into newly-revealed administrative election improprieties and irregularities in the county.

The resignation of Florkiewicz from the board of Ohio's most Democratic county leaves only Bennett --- who is the chair of both the Election Board and the state's Republican party --- to fight the order by Brunner. A hearing will be held next Monday concerning the complaint filed along with the SoS's resignation demands, after which Brunner is free to fire Bennett directly, according to state law. As ever, the members of Ohio's supposedly "bi-partisan" boards of election have always served at the pleasure of the SoS, who, for years, was the highly partisan right-winger and co-chair of Ohio's Bush/Cheney 2004 committee, J. Kenneth Blackwell.

Brunner replaced Blackwell last November after the former SoS was thoroughly rejected by Ohio voters in his bid for Governor.

"Regrettably, the lone board member who has refused to resign will face removal," Brunner said in a statement posted to the SoS website late this afternoon. As to today's resignation, she added, "It's unfortunate that Ms. Florkiewicz was unable to resign until faced with a complaint to remove her from the board."

While the board's two Democratic members resigned last week not long after receiving Brunner's request, an official in Ohio closely following the matter has told The BRAD BLOG that Florkiewicz exited her post today with anything but grace.

"The Secretary of State has decided to use the Cuyahoga County Board of Election to advance a partisan agenda," Florkiewicz contended in her resignation letter, "and I am not willing to be used as a political statement."

But one of our sources wonders how the request to remove "2 D's and 2 R's demonstrates a partisan agenda"...

"Do you think she means that by removing a totally partisan and incompetent board in a heavily Democratic county and establishing fair elections that the net result constitutes a partisan benefit?" our source asked.

But Florkiewicz stuck to her script. "Chairman Bennett is defending the integrity of this board against politically motivated attacks," she said as she cut and ran, leaving Bennett as the last man standing, further leaving us to wonder how his recent characterization of the conviction of 2004 Presidential Election recount riggers --- one supposedly Democratic and the other a Republican --- as "a travesty of justice" would constitute either "integrity" or a "politically motivated attack."

Finally, in her exit strategy statement Florkiewicz thanked the "citizens of Cuyahoga County for allowing me to serve as a board member at the Cuyahoga Board of Elections."

One of our Buckeye sources found the remark "interesting" in light of the fact that Florkiewicz was nominated to her board post by the Cuyahoga County Republican Party and appointed to it by the Republican Blackwell.

"The citizens never had a say," in either her appointment or service to the county, the source notes. "Unless the defunct board was counting the votes," The BRAD BLOG was told, it seems rather unlikely that Florkiwicz would ever have been elected by Cuyahoga County's very Democratic base.

Brunner's statement today also calls for applicants to the newly vacated board. She notes that "applicants must be a qualified elector (voter) of Cuyahoga County."

Given that Bennett, as chair of the board, was nonetheless a resident of Columbus --- at least an hour's drive from Cuyahoga's Cleveland --- one wonders just why he would have been appointed to such a post, heading the state's most Democratic area, in the first place. We suppose only Blackwell and the state's Republican party would be able to answer that one. We'll leave you instead to speculate to your heart's content.

But as this is the electoral snake-pit that is Ohio, after all, whatever you're speculating...is most likely correct.

Everybody should thank and support* Brad and also the Secretary of State Project at SecStateProject.org.

These noble women (and other great SoS's like them --- including Bill Bradbury here in Oregon) are our last, best hope for a chance to save our Constitutional Republic and not turn into a corporate fascist state.

This is one stubborn guy who doesn't embarass easily. Look for a protracted fight. But he's gone because the power's out of his hands. He still gets to name the Republican successors anyway, and will be pulling their strings.

Ha ha ha ha ha, the wicked bitch is dead! Everyone knows I have no love for Sally Florkiewicz after she tried to harass and bully me at a polling place on Cleveland's East Side where I was an observer during the last election. She proved that she knows less about election regulations and procedure than I do. Maybe I should apply for one of those jobs on the BoE! I meet my own qualifications: I know a lot obout elections and have been involved in election reform and I'm a Democratic activist without every having held elected office or office within the party (other than precinct committee person). And I know Jennifer Brunner personally!

Seriously, this is sort of embarassing for Sally. Instead of just bowing out quickly and graciously like Coaxum and Soggs did, she hangs on until, obviously, she realized that they have no case and she's about to be humiliated, and then she goes out in sadly typical fashion for many of today's Republicans - blaming everyone else.

Also, if it's proved that Bennett actually LIVES in Columbus as has been often alleged, I don't see why he's eligible to be on the CUyaoga County BoE at all. He's a transparent plant. What would he say if Chris Redfern (chair of the Ohio's Democratic Party?) tried to becoming chairman of the BoE of heavily Republican Clermont County (you know, the ones where "humidity" delayed the vote count during the Paul Hackett/ "Scrunchie" Schmidt race, when Hackett had been leading and a delayed influx of votes from Scrunchie's home county put her over the top safely?) He'd flip.

Also, the drive time from the BoE offices to Columbus is about 2 1/2 hours and there's no part of the county from which you could cover the 120 some miles in an hour unless you were really breaking all speed limits.

Also if you're in the greater Cleveland area and would like to drop by to see what Bennett's going to offer in his defense, the hearing in Monday morning (April 2) at 9 a.m. at the Euclid City Hall Council Chambers, 585 E. 222nd St., Euclid. If you don't know the area, there's an E. 222nd Streeet exit right off the Lakeland Freeway (route 2). I'm trying to get someone from our paper to go because I'm dying to hear what his attorney will present. Unfortunately, I'm proofreader here, among other things, and Monday is our crunch deadline day so I can't personally be there. Damn, I wish it were on a Tuesday or Wednesday!

He's probably the most guilty one of them all. He probably selected all the "Democrats" who were in reality receiving money to do the Republican's bidding.

I wonder if that's the way it operated in other states? Oh yeah, there was Madame Butterfly, Terese LaPore, in Florida who created the now-famous Butterfly ballot of the 2000 presidential election which had Jews in South Florida voting accidentally for Pat Buchanan. Shortly after the election she switched (back) to her Republican roots. So much for honesty in politics.